


Feast or Famine

by orphan_account



Category: Late Night Host RPF
Genre: Angst, Apocalypse, Gen, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Underage Prostitution, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-04
Updated: 2015-02-04
Packaged: 2018-03-10 11:12:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3288206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In another life, he and Josh have enough to eat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MadameExpendable](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadameExpendable/gifts).



> Seth eats like he can’t remember his last meal and doesn’t know where his next one is coming from.

In another life, he and Josh have enough to eat. And clean clothes. And a place to sleep. And parents. But they’re not in another life; they’re stuck in this one. And this one is dark, overwhelming, and terrifying.

“Don’t eat the whole can, bud. Save some for me!” Seth says.

He swipes the cold Spaghetti-os from his little brother. It’s his eighteenth birthday, and he’s celebrating with uncooked food, huddled in a tent in the rain with his brother in the middle of some goddamn apocalypse. Though they finally made it out of the city, the smell of burning buildings clings to their skin and hair and sooty clothes.

Josh pouts, but doesn’t say anything. He’s been so quiet since their mom and dad went to scavenge for food and money and just never came back. Days and weeks passed as they watched friends’ and neighbors’ homes get raided and trashed as everyone fled to “safer” areas. It quickly became apparent that Seth would have to move him and Josh out before they, too, were wiped out.

Seth and Josh crammed food and medication and their Boy Scout camping gear into backpacks and took off. That was five months ago, and they hadn’t returned.

Seth takes another bite as Josh looks on, gaunt with fear and hunger. He hands him the can back.

“Here. Finish it off. I’m gonna go take a leak.”

Josh nods and grabs the can and fork before chowing down.

Seth unzips the tent as quietly as possible so no nearby robbers or slavers or rapists or god knew what else would hear him. It was getting kind of dark, but Seth didn’t dare bring the flashlight. He looks up at the night sky and feels the moon beams wash over his already pale face. Ho closes his eyes.

“God, if you’re there, maybe, just maybe can we have enough to eat until this is all over? I’m not asking for a lot. Just enough to survive. Please?”

He wishes with all his might and tears stream down his face. He hasn’t cried in a while, but that was only because he was too dehydrated. They camped by a stream tonight, so now he could.

“I just want to eat, god.”

Seth drops to his knees as malnutrition and exhaustion set in.

When he comes to, he finds himself, not lying outside a tent, but in some sort of studio. He hears his own voice speaking, but deeper. He’s reading something. 

“A big thanks to Mario Batali and Horatio Sanz tonight! This was _Late Night_ , have a good night!”

Loud music plays, and something finally clicks. He’s in a suit and he’s holding a plate of pasta and something that smells like seafood, but he can’t remember the name for it. His mouth waters. It doesn’t matter the name of the dish, does it? Food is food. Immediately, he begins cramming food into his mouth so fast that it spills back onto his plate, which he quickly shovels back in. It’s so good he could scream. His stomach growls in pain and joy. It’s too much too soon, but it doesn’t stop him. There’s no telling where his next meal will come from. 

He catches a glimpse of himself on a studio monitor.

_God, I look old._

He eats and eats and eats, watching himself in sick fascination.

_But I don’t look sick or thin. Or sad. I look happy._

He looks down at his plate and sees a wedding ring on his hand.

_I’m fucking married!?_

Thoughts of wedded bliss come and go when Mario hands him a glass of something fruity and alcoholic.


	2. Chapter 2

One minute he is helping Mario Batali make a quick dinner, the next he’s standing outside a tent in the middle of the woods.

“Ummm, h-hello?” he asks, praying that whomever is inside will not kill him.

A boy peaks his head out from the flap.

“What’s the matter?” the kid asks.

Seth stares him right in the eyes. Is that…? It can’t be…

“Josh?”

His eyes widen.

“Please don’t hurt me! Take whatever you want, but don’t hurt me. Leave me alone! My brother will be back here, and he’ll kick your ass, fucking pervert!”

Josh grabs one of their kitchen knives and brandishes it angrily, fear in his sad, tired eyes. Seth steps towards the tent, hand outstretched to show he was not a threat.

“I’m not going to hurt you. Please just tell me what’s going on.”

“What did you do to Seth?”

Seth quirks an eyebrow.

“ _I’m_ Seth. I’m your brother! Don’t you recognize me?”

“Prove that you’re Seth. Say something only he would know about me.”

“In fourth grade, you threw a baseball and broke mom’s potted plants, but you blamed it on Thomas Anderson who lived down the street.”

It’s as if the wind had been knocked out him with the rate at which he drops the knife and jumps out of the tent to embrace his older (even older?) brother. The boy immediately begins to sob, and Seth enfolds him into a tight hug.

“Shhh, shhh, it’s okay. I’m here. Shhh.”

“I don’t know what’s happening anymore. I don’t know where mom and dad are, and I don’t know why you look like this. What’s happening, Soofie?”

In all honesty, Seth has no idea. And as he tries and fails to think of an answer, they hear the snap of a twig in the distance behind them.

“Get in the tent,” Josh demands.

Seth scrambles to obey.

It’s a tight squeeze, but they fit.

“Where are you from? How old are you?” Josh asks.

“I live in New York now. It’s 2015 there. I just turned 41 last month.”

“Jesus.”

“Where are we now?”

“We’re somewhere in Silver Hill State Forest in New York. It’s October 10, 1991.”

Seth puts his head in his hands. This is too much.

“Why? Why are you here? Where’s mom and dad, and why do you look so underfed?”

Josh swallows harshly. How is supposed to tell him all these terrible things when they don’t happen to him in his timeline? Wouldn’t it be kinder to make this sound like a game? Perhaps if he wasn’t so starved and tired, he’d try to consider his brother’s feelings, but he just doesn’t have it in him.

“Mom and dad are dead. Along with pretty much everyone else in the country, as far as we know. They went to find food one day, and they never came back. That was in April. We’re running out of food, and it’s hard for us to find it. When we do, people aren’t so keen to share without wanting something in return. So you, well, the other you…does stuff…to get it. But only sometimes.”

There’s a long, awkward silence as the truth sinks in. What kind of world was this anyway? They’re both just boys. How has the world come to this?

“I am so, so sorry.”

Josh shrugs. There are no words to say. Seth can see him visibly retreating into himself.

Then, Seth remembers he has his wallet, which he quickly pulls out.

“Here,” he says.

Seth pulls out three twenties, two tens, a five, and five singles. He hands him various change as well.

“It’s not much, but it might be enough to keep you safe for a while. Try to find adults who can help you. Or at least protect you. Don’t all survival movies have children adopted into groups?”

Josh is too busy stashing the money to really pay attention to him after the word “safe,” which is fine. That’s the one that matters the most.

Suddenly, Josh is in his arms again.

“No matter where you are or where you’re from, you always find a way to help me.”

The earnestness in his face is enough to make Seth’s heart hurt. He holds his little (tiny, young, sweet, innocent) brother in his arms again.

“Will you hold me until my Seth comes back? I don’t know who could be out there…”

“Sure, buddy. Anything for you.”

Josh moves the two sleeping bags closer together before changing into his sleep clothes, which are slightly less dirty than his day clothes. And since it’s silly to sleep in a suit, he strips down to his boxers and undershirt to settle in for a terrifying night under the stars. If it was anyone other than Josh, this would be creepy and wrong, but keeping his brother safe is the most natural thing in the world to him. In a strange way, he almost feels more paternal than fraternal, what with the age gap between them now.

“Tell me about the other world,” Josh asks, voice heavy with sleep.

It takes Seth a second to realize he means 2015 and not heaven.

“Well, I have my own TV show…”

“No way.”

“Way,” Seth chuckles. “And you and I do voices for a TV show together.”

“And mom and dad?”

“Alive and well. You three all came on my show for Thanksgiving.”

“Wow…,” Josh breathes, rapidly falling asleep.

“Mhmmm…”

He is quiet after Josh has fallen asleep. He listens to him breathe and to the sounds outside. The poor things.

Seth must close his eyes too because when he wakes, it is 2015, and he is missing $90.28 from his wallet.


	3. Chapter 3

Josh jolts awake the next morning, prompting Seth—his Seth—to do the same.

“You’re back!” Josh shouts. “Where did you go? Did you go to the future?”

“Are you okay? Were you okay by yourself?”

“That’s just it. I wasn’t by myself. You, the future you, came here. Look, he even gave us money!”

Josh hands him the small wad of cash and change.

“Then it’s true. I traveled through time.”

“Where did you go?”

“I was on TV studio set. I had my own show, and I got to meet Mario Batali and some guy named Horatio Sanz. And I have a wife!”

“Well, the older you was here in your place. I don’t think he slept the whole night. He stayed watch like you.”

Seth doesn’t say anything at first, too overcome with relief to speak properly.

“I’m not sure how or why, but we’ve been given a gift. So no matter how bad things get, we’ll still get through, okay? Promise me that you’ll get through this with me.”

“I promise. Do you?”

“Yeah,” Seth vows. “If we can travel through time, then fixing this whole thing is within our reach.”


End file.
